Tom Brown wants a “bright and colorful” memorial to remember the 11 Who concert victims in 1979, and the many who helped save hundreds of lives that night, including his own.

Brown on Friday announced the new Who Concert Memorial Foundation, a 501(c )(3) nonprofit organization to finance a memorial outside on the public concourse outside U.S. Bank Arena, where 11 people died Dec. 3, 1979. Donations may be made at any U.S. Bank, he said.

“We don’t want a ‘You Are Here’ sign. We want to build a world-class memorial. Because of the location, between the (Great American) Ball Park and the arena, it’s the face of the city,” says Brown, 52, president of the Who Concert Tragedy Memorial Committee formed after the 30th anniversary in 2009.

Brown, a 17-year-old Norwood High School junior in 1979, bristles at the mention that concertgoers were killed in a “stampede.” He wants to change the conversation with a large memorial and scholarships to all high schools attended by the 11 victims, ages 15 to 27. “It was like being in a trash compactor. It wasn’t a stampede. They didn’t open the doors until 7:35 p.m.,” Brown said.

More than 14,000 first-come, first-served festival-seating tickets were sold to the 18,348-capacity concert at the building, then called Riverfront Coliseum. Fans waited until 25 minutes before the concert for only a few doors to open. Then the crowd surged forward, sweeping many people off their feet and leaving them gasping for air, he said.

“There were hundreds of acts of heroism in the crowd, and all it’s remembered for is that (concertgoers) ran over fellow human beings,” Brown said. “This is a very important event in city history. It’s time to remember our victims as who they were, not how they died.”

Keith Pettit, city Right of Way Section principal engineer, expressed support, even though he was unaware of the project. “I don’t see any reason why we wouldn’t allow it,” he said.

Brown could not say how much money the foundation wanted to raise. He also declined to say if The Who had been contacted about the fundraising effort.

In a 2007 VH1 documentary, “Amazing Journey: The Story of The Who,” drummer Kenney Jones said the “emotionally devastating” 11 deaths here “still haunts me to this day.”

In the film, Jones said band members were told 20 minutes into the show about the deaths. Mark Celsor of Mount Washington, who attended the 1979 concert, said band members looked emotionless when he saw them leave the coliseum that night: “You could tell they were distressed.”

Brown said he’s “100 percent confident we can construct a memorial on the plaza level” in three years. “It’s important the citizens of Cincinnati remember its fallen, and the survivors,” he said. ■